Me reading from Survival of the Fittest

Reading a portion of Survival of the Fittest - The Last Hope for the Human Race

Editing my second book in the SOTF series - The Closest Enemy

I've started editing the second in the SOTF series, and I'm quite pleased with what I'm reading. Of course there are over 3million typos, the story tends to stray, the characters are not consistent, and a few times I've shifted dialogue so fast I don't even know who's saying what...but other than that, I really did a good job. LOL

At least I laugh and don't break into sobbing.

Survival of the Fittest - The Closest Enemy

SNEAK PEEK OF THE SECOND IN THE

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST SERIES

Survival of the Fittest - Book Trailer

My self-created rough version using Windows Movie Maker.

Book trailers on Youtube

I created 2 book trailers for my books.  The first is for Survival of the Fittest - The Last Hope for the Human Race:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVIZx6AxK0

The second is the sneak peek for Survival of the Fittest - The Closest Enemy (currently editing):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se2SqHIbpKI&feature=youtu.be

Let me know what you think.  Criticisms are fine too.  I'm a tough person, I can take it.  :)

SOTF Character Interview Blogged. Check it out!

Wanted to share an interview that was done with a character from Survival of the Fittest - The Last Hope for the Human Race.  Click the link and read on.  You might even find it interesting enough to follow the blooger (Ernie).  He does a great job with character interviews.

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2287836-director-shale-interviews-priya-hendi#

Just a little bit of sick pleasure...

I wanted to share something that I dealt with while writing the second in the Survival of the Fittest Series.

There's this one character, and honestly, I couldn't stand her.  I did everything I could to get rid of her.  And then I decided to finally kill her off.  Ha Ha, (evil laugh there).  So you'd think I'd be able to get rid of her early on and then be free of her - not!  That girl just wouldn't die until one of the last chapters.  I swear, the character had a survival instinct that beat my creative instinct.  Could it be I just didn't want to kill her?

And then - wouldn't you know it...  I wrote, what I think is one of the BEST end scenes for any character that's died.  Why?  How the heck do I know.  That girl just wanted to live.  Doesn't it sound strange how my characters actually do live in some strange way.

But, and this is a SPOILER:  in the the third in the series The Battle for Earth, she's BAAAAACK!  Maybe I didn't dislike her as much as I thought.  Or maybe, she's still fighting to live.  (scary music)

The cover of my first book.  I'm sooo proud of what I've accomplished.  I realized a dream I never thought I would.

Article on my book published in Frederick News-Post

Local teacher/author uses student input to craft his work

Originally published March 03, 2012

By Blair Ames

News-Post Staff

Author Mike Taylor chats with members of Monocacy Middle School's book club Wednesday afternoon. Taylor fielded questions on his recent young adult novel, "Survival of of the Fittest: The Last Hope for the Human Race." He is a seventh- and eighth-grade language arts teacher at Monocacy. At right is seventh-grader Kieran Hosier.    

Members of Monocacy Middle School's book club had a unique opportunity Wednesday of spending time with the author of their assigned book for the month.

Mike Taylor fielded questions on his recent young adult novel, "Survival of the Fittest: The Last Hope for the Human Race." Some students said how much they enjoyed the book, while others thought it was just plain boring.

Taylor, who is also a seventh- and eighth-grade language arts teacher at Monocacy, said he expected both praise and criticism.

He is open to the criticism, he said, because it improves his writing while demonstrating to his students that no one's work is perfect, and that's OK.

"I think I learn and the kids also learn that being criticized isn't meant to hurt their feelings," he said.

"Survival of the Fittest" is Taylor's first published work; he has written 20 to 25 novels that were not accepted by publishers, he said.

"Survival" follows seven teenagers who wake completely alone one night, the sole survivors of an alien attack. They are now the last hope for humanity, but first must fight off the aliens.

Taylor described himself a doomsday scenario fan, which led him to write a science-fiction novel.

His second book, "Survival of the Fittest: The Closest Enemy," is finished and now under review by Monocacy students.

Feedback has been good, but slow to come in because the students are still reading it, Taylor said.

Taylor is in his second year teaching at Monocacy after working as a teacher in Florida and Pennsylvania. He holds bachelor and master's degrees from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.

"Survival of the Fittest: The Last Hope for the Human Race" is available in middle school libraries across the county and at the C. Burr Artz Public Library in Frederick. It is the most requested book at the Monocacy Middle School library.

Taylor does not know how many copies of the book have been sold since its release in November. His Facebook page has fans from 24 different countries, with the most coming from Japan.

Having a book published is "one of the most difficult things in the world," Taylor said. He estimated his previous novels have been rejected at least 100 times.

"If you can't win (publishers) over in the initial email, they're not even going to bother looking at your manuscript," he said.

Taylor plans to keep writing young adult novels because that is the group of readers who must be reached to keep a literate society, he said.

"I think staying in this profession, staying where I'm at and reading, I'm actually going to create those kids who are going to go forth and keep society moving where it needs to go," he said.

SOTF - The Battle for Earth

I've just started writing this book within the last four days, and I'm incredibly excited about the direction it's heading.  I don't know if this will be the last in the series, but time will tell.  Here's a snippet of the Prologue:

            The question had been echoed over a million times, “How much longer?”  As the days ticked by, and time drew closer and closer to the Quar return, everyone fell into a feeling of despair.  The thought of having to go to war to save Earth wasn’t something hundreds of thousands of Theta DNA teens around the world even wanted to consider.  All of them knew, and all of them understood, this war would have a clear winner, and the loser, well, that was the one thing no teen wanted to think about.

            The teens faced a harsh winter following the exit of the Quar.  They found themselves trapped in skyscrapers that had already begun to decay.  There were nights when the winds howled outside.  The teens in New York City faced a blizzard, one greater than any had ever seen.  During that, there were those who thought they all would starve to death.  But in that group, there were some, who were determined to ensure the group wouldn’t go hungry, ever.

            Ricardo, Cain, and Matt, led the battle to find food.  They braved snow drifts that buried buildings up to the second story.  They fought the freezing temperatures while others made certain there was a warm place to call home.  The arctic blast lasted nearly three weeks, and only one didn’t survive.

SOTF - The Closest Enemy is completed

The second book of the Survival of the Fittest series is complete.  Right now it's going through some of my toughest critics.  They will advise me what needs to be changed or added or deleted.

You might be asking, "Who are his toughest critics?"

The people who the book is for - young adults.  There are about five kids who have asked to read my second book because they loved the first.  They are and always will be the toughest critics.  To be a great YA author, I feel I need to hear their thoughts in order to write something that will be successful.


I feel very fortunate to have them reading my book.